Top teams at Best of Preps tournament

Some of the top high school basketball talent in the Chattanooga area will be on display when the Times Free Press Best of Preps Christmas tournament gets underway today at Arts & Sciences. Play continues Tuesday, and boys' and girls' championships will be decided Wednesday.

The action should be fast and furious from start to finish today. It begins with Chattanooga Christian's girls (6-1) facing GPS (6-1) at 10 a.m., and runs through Grace Academy's boys (10-0) playing Tyner (5-1) at 8:30 p.m.

GPS is sparked by a sophomore class that features point guard Chadarryl Clay (15.5 points, 6 assists, 4 steals per game) and forward Jeneh Perry (15.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg). The Bruisers have scored 72 or more points four times.

"We play off our full-court defense," GPS coach Susan Crownover said. "If we're committed to that and play hard all the time, that's when we're successful. We don't have a lot of size, so we have to rely on playing full court, up and down."

CCS is led by its junior class, which includes forward Chelsea Jones (14 ppg, 8 rpg). Senior Chauncey Simmons (12 ppg, 7 rpg) also plays up front. Presley Watson, an all-city guard as a sophomore, has been out with an ACL injury but is expected to see her first action of the season in a limited capacity.

"GPS is very, very athletic," Lady Chargers coach Pam Hindman said. "They play 94 feet. They're going to be tough for us to beat. We're going to have to take care of the basketball and rebound really well."

Today's last game features a standout perimeter player in Grace senior Brandon Herman and the city's most notable post player in Tyner's 6-foot-9 senior Michael Bradley (8 rpg, 5 bpg). The Rams are led in scoring by 6-6 senior forward Reggie Gilmore (14 ppg) and guard Travis Jones (14 ppg).

"The big thing about Bradley is not so much scoring but his defense _ blocking shots and rebounding," Grace coach Jon Mattheiss said. "One of the big things we have to do is box out really well. He's going to get a certain amount of rebounds anyway, because of his size, but we can't let him go crazy. He's also going to block some shots, but we can't let that discourage us from driving to the basket."

Mattheiss is stressing the need for a good start from his team. Senior guards Terrell Church (16 ppg) and Taylor Wilson (12.5 ppg) give Herman (28 ppg) some scoring support.

"With some players it's over when they get going. You can't stop them. We want to try to create some havoc and make sure some of the shots he shoots are contested," Tyner coach Gerald Harris said of Herman. "They work well within their system and play to their strengths. We'll have to do what we do best, which is defend. I think it's going to be two good teams doing what they do well."